I Wasn't Expecting To Do That
by wholocker78218
Summary: Sansa gets stood up by Joffrey, walking home alone she stops at a small pub to get some dinner when she meets a nice man with a nice beard. Modern AU.


I'm sick and tired of these stupid little boys! For the gods sake, just grow up already.

Sansa Stark had been stood up, once again, by Joffrey Baratheon. The blonde haired, green eyed boy of her dreams was turning out to be a complete and utter arsehole and she had finally had enough.

She was walking home from the restaurant the date was supposed to be and was passing the pub she usually just walked past, for some reason however, the decided to pause outside. The pub had a menu on display at the door, pub classics such as steak pie, bangers and mash and fish and chips had her mouth watering and her stomach grumble. She hadn't eaten at the restaurant out of embarrassment of eating alone after sitting for so long, insisting she was waiting on someone to the staff. But here would be less public, the pub was lowly lit, with a few dark corners she could hide from the world in, and even better she does need to cook herself or do the dishes afterward.

After contemplating for a few more seconds, she decides to enter the pub and grab an empty booth in the back corner, where she could see the world but the world outdent see her, perfect.

The menu card on the table had a little more information than the one inside and she decides upon the steak pie, it's a little expensive, and Joffrey was supposed to be treating her tonight so she hasn't got a lot of cash handy, so she decides against desert. She approaches the bar, the bartended serving an older gentlemen who looks to be in his early forty's with blonde hair and a mix of ginger, grey and blonde beard. His voice sounds like liquid gold to her ears and Sansa can feel her skin reddening slightly at the sound of it, it's the good thing the lights aren't too bright otherwise the bartender and the man would notice.

Finally, she gets the bartenders attention and orders her food.

"Do you have any barbecue sauce for the table?" She asks, her favourite sauce is always able to improve her mood drastically.

"Give me a minute, darling. I think we got some in the back." The Kindly old bartender tells her, and disappears through the door behind the bar.

As she waits, she feels as though someone is watching her and fair enough when she glances to the man with the rich deep voice he is staring at her. She returns the stare with a raised eyebrow, forcing herself not to blush under his attention.

"Sorry, sweetheart. It's just whenever I ask for anything, he tells me where to go." He says, a grin pulling at his lips under the beard and she can't help but smile at him.

"Maybe you didn't ask as politely as I did." She replies, a hint of sass in her voice.

He smiles a little wider and his eyes crinkle in a gorgeous way that makes Sansa feel extremely warm.

"Or maybe I'm just not pretty enough for him." He teases and that definitely had a strong effect on Sansa's skin tone, luckily for her however, the bartended comes back with a small dish with barbecue sauce in it.

"There you are, darling." He says, placing the dish on the counter, before noticing Sansa's reddened face and the beard man's smile. "He's not be harassing you, has he?" His face quite serious.

"What kind of man do you think I am, George?" The bearded man says in outrage.

"No, actually, I was just asking him join me at my table, I don't like sitting alone in pubs or restaurants." Sansa responds, the bartender looking at her as though trying to decipher whether she is lying or not. Before he can say anything else, Sansa turns her attention to the bearded man whose eyes have widened at her response. "Care to join me…"

"Beric. Beric Dondarrion," He responds at her pause.

"Sure, who am I to deny a lady such as yourself." He responds, making Sansa smile again.

"Thank you for the sauce, George." She says, before leading the finally named, Beric over to her isolated corner of the pub.

Once he's seated across from her, pint glass in her right hand on the table.

"You didn't need to do that, invite me over I mean. George knows me well enough to know I wouldn't say or do anything to make you uncomfortable." Beric says, his eyes catching hers. She can feel herself being drawn in by them so she breaks eye contact and smiles a little.

"It's ok, I'll admit I wasn't completely lying. I don't enjoy eating on my own so if you're okay with it, I don't mind if you keep me company while I'm here." She says, trying to keep her blush under control.

The longer she stared at him the more qualities of his appliance she found attractive. This was something almost entirely new to her. This wasn't a date, but she had been on many dates before but all those were boys here age. Having a crush, because it was a crush at this point, on an older man was not something she had experienced before (apart from Jaime Lannister, but he was a famous football player, most girls her age had a crush on him).

"Fair enough, I can go with that." He replies, removing his outer jacket on the bench space beside him to reveal a black ribbed jumper, that made him look cosy. "If you don't mind me asking, if you don't like eating alone, why are you here on you own?" He asks, his forearms leaning on the table.

"I was supposed to be on a date right now but my boyfriend stood me up, I should probably say ex-boyfriend now though, this was his last chance to get his act to gather and he's blown it." She replies, finally making the decision she had been pondering since she left the restaurant in embarrassment.

"What kind of boy would stand up a girl like you, fucking idiot." He says, the last part muttered under his breath, but Sansa still heard it and couldn't help but smile at his sweet if foul-mouthed response. "Anyway, enough about me, tell me about you."

The next hour or so are spent chatting, Beric turns out to be a very intelligent man if a bit rough around the edges and when Sansa's food arrives he tells her stories so she can eat without needing to respond. When she finally finishes her steak pie, which was completely worth the money, she wishes she had savoured it more because not that she's finished she has not reason to stay, she's not much of a drinker, especially when she still has a few blocks to walk on her own at ten-thirty at night.

"I suppose I should start walking home now, before it gets too late." Sansa says, genuinely feeling sad she has to leave.

"You're walking?" Beric asks, as he helps her put on her coat.

"I don't live that far away and taxis around here are almost non-existent." She replies.

"Let me walk you home." Before she can say anything else he speaks again, " Please, I wouldn't feel right if I let a pretty girl like you walk home alone at this time of night."

Sansa nods her head, internally pleased that she doesn't have to say goodbye yet.

As they walk, Beric continues to make her laugh, this time with stories about his friend Thoros who is a complete disaster when he's drunk. As they arrive fifteen minutes later on the doorstep of her apartment she shares with her best friend Margaery Tyrell who is spending the weekend with her grandmother, the feeling of saddens returns.

"It was nice meeting you Sansa Stark," he says, his eyes shining in the moonlight and before she can second guess herself, Sansa tugs Beric by his soft looking jumper towards her and kisses him.

He freezes for a second before he begins to respond to the kiss, his beard scratching softly at her lips and skin, his hands cupping her face. She tries to deepen the kiss before he pulls away, not enough to remove himself from her grasp but enough to look her properly in the eye.

"I have to admit, I wasn't expecting that." His voice has grown gruffer and Sansa almost melts at the sound of it.

"I wasn't expecting to do it, but I'm glad I did." She says, growing more confidant by the second, now that she has not been rejected or pushed away completely. "I like the beard," she says her fingers stroking down the side of he cheek, the strands of hair softer than she thought they would be, he must take great care of it.

He laughs lightly at her statement. "I'm glad, but I have to ask, where are you going with this Sansa Stark, what are you? Twenty? Twenty-one? I'm twice your age."

"Twenty-three, I don't mind the gap if you don't." She responds, trying to keep her confidence which is beginning to fade and turn into embarrassment.

"Oh sweetheart, you're a dream come true for a man like me," he responds and Sansa can see his pupils growing wider by the second.

"That's settled then," she says before landing forward to kiss him again, this time when she swipes her tongue across the seam of his lips he doesn't pull away, instead he moves his hands down to her small waist to pull her closer against him. Kissing her breath away as he walks her backwards until her the length of her is trapped between the door and the warmth of his body.


End file.
